DepEd Secretary Conducts Study Visit of SG Education System

Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones calls on Singapore Education Minister Ong Ye Kung. (Education Minister Ong Ye Kung Official Facebook Page photo)

SINGAPORE 29 October 2018 —Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones officially visited Singapore on 07-10 October 2018, where she observed first-hand a primary and a secondary school, as well as meet with her Singaporean counterpart Education Minister Ong Ye Kung.

Secretary Briones, accompanied by First Secretary Gonaranao B. Musor, Department of Education (DepEd) External Partnerships Service Diretcor Margarita Consolacion C. Ballesteros, and Head Executive Assistant Leilani L. Galvez, visited Farrer Park Primary School and Dunman High School on 09 October 2018 as part of DepEd’s continuing efforts to reform the Philippine education system.

The DepEd hopes to apply whatever it can learn from Singapore’s school system that is suited to the Philippine context.

Secretary Briones is particularly interested on how values education is integrated into Singapore’s curriculum, and on Singapore’s teacher training program.

Farrer Park Primary School was noted for its holistic approach in child development as it targets “the head, the heart, and the hands” to respectively refer to providing academic, character-building, and life skills education.

Meanwhile, Dunman High School already provides financial literacy education to its students, which proves that it is never too early to teach students how to manage their finances.

Secretary Briones then called on Education Minister Ong where she conveyed “the high regard placed by Filipinos on Singapore’s education system.”

The DepEd further sees Singapore as a fitting model to benchmark its reform program for the Philippine education system.

Both parties agreed on the importance of information and communications technology to further improve education. Secretary Briones also emphasized equal importance for both technology and values in education. END

For more information, visit www.singaporepe.dfa.gov.ph / www.philippine-embassy.org.sg or https://www.facebook.com/PHinSingapore.

Secretary Briones, First Secretary Gonaranao B. Musor (leftmost), DepEd Director Margarita C. Ballesteros (third from right), and Ms. Leilani L. Galvez (second from right), together with officials of Farrer Park Primary School as they pose in one of the hallway corners of the school converted into a play-learning area. (Singapore PE photo)

Secretary Leonor M. Briones interacts with the students of Farrer Park Primary School. (Singapore PE photo)